State v. Leng K. Xiong

The state brings this interlocutory appeal from the trial court's order suppressing evidence found during a warrantless consent search. The issue is whether Leng K. Xiong's wife, Mai Lee, voluntarily consented to a police search of the Xiongs' residence. We conclude that Mai Lee's consent was voluntary under the totality of the circumstances, and we reverse the trial court's order.

On the night of January 23, 1992, the police found Moua Xiong dead in a van that was parked on a city street. An autopsy determined that multiple stab wounds caused Moua's death. The next day, the police took an…